Page 149 of Monstrous Serpent

“I’m nothing like you.” I pull the blade out with my free hand, stand, then kick him over.

A pool of crimson coats the ground, his eyes remaining open.

My uncle’s gone.

For good, this time.

I clamp my hand over the hole in my side and groan. Blood slips hot between my fingers, but I press harder, fighting through the pain. I take one step. Then another.

Someone crashes through the trees, and I raise the gun.

Atlas throws both hands up, sliding to a stop. “It’s me. Hunt, it’s just me.”

I lower the weapon and let out a long breath.

He looks at my uncle’s dead body, then back to me. “You good?”

I nod, tucking the gun into my waistband.

His gaze drops to my side, and his eyes narrow. He closes the distance, then swings, his fist connecting with my jaw. “You're bleeding, and you just nodded at me like it's nothing. Are you serious right now?” His chest heaves in and out. “Stop fucking hiding shit, Hunt. Didn’t you learn anything?”

Clenching my teeth, I swallow hard. He’s right. But then my gaze drops to his throat, and even in the dark, I can see the red marks. Marks I left with my hand. I turn my head away, looking into the trees at nothing.

Atlas shoves me. “Talk.”

“You should go. Get out of here.”

He grabs the front of my hoodie and drives me backward into a tree trunk. A grunt tears out of me before I can stop it, white-hot pain flaring in my side. But Atlas is too locked in to notice. His face is inches from mine, his hot breath ghosting over my face, his lips pulled up into a snarl. “You don't leave the people you love, Hunter.”

“You got hurt again because of me.”

“But not just by them. You hurt me too.” His voice cracks on the last word. “Did you know your father and uncle were raising you to be their perfect prey? That they always intended to kill you? You were always supposed to die.” His hands twist the fabric of my hoodie, pulling me closer. “How do you think I would feel if you did?”

My chest rises and falls too fast. Figured they'd try to kill me one day. Just didn’t know the plan they had.

Atlas’s brows furrow, his grip easing on my hoodie. “You sure you love me?”

“Yes.”

A few seconds pass, then he kisses me. It’s hard, brief, and when he pulls back, he’s still glaring. “Then cut the shit. We work through this. All of it. Together.”

I rest my forehead against his, close my eyes, and just breathe. “Even after what I did to you?”

Atlas rests his palms on my chest, relaxing into me. “Yes. And just because I’m mad and hurt doesn’t mean I don’t love you, okay? So don't ice me out.”

“I won’t. And I’m sorry. About all of it.” I don’t deserve him staying. Don’t know if I’ll ever forgive myself. But he loves me. And loving him back means letting him in, even when I think keeping him out is the only way to protect him.

After a minute, I shift my weight off the tree, and a sharp pulse of pain rips through my side. I grit my teeth and ask the question I already know the answer to. “My brother?”

Atlas pulls back, looking down at the ground. “I took care of him.”

I swallow hard, then tip his chin up, forcing him to look at me. “Had to be done.”

He nods, but his bottom lip trembles.

“I’m not mad at you.” I wrap my arms around Atlas and pull him close again. It’s not his fault. They’d twisted my brother into something that couldn't be untwisted. The damage set too deep. No one saved Garrett in time.

And now my brother’s gone.